whats the difference?...distortion etc

An Overdrive, is the sound of an overdriven tube amp, preamp distortion and power-stage saturation, it has some dynamic depth and greater tonal richness.

Distortion, is a tonally balanced clipping, with the eq carefully shaped with upper harmonics and is generally produced with solid state devices, Different types of transistors distort differently and are made to simulate the sound of overdriven tube amps.

Joe

the terms overdrive and distortion are frequently used interchangeably because overdriving causes distortion ... one can use a distortion pedal to create an effect similar to overdriven distotion without actually overdriving the amp ... but the sound of overdrive / distortion can very from 'gritty' to 'crunchy' to 'heavy' to 'insane' depending on the preferences of the player .. dont confuse these with 'noise' which is never wanted in a signal ...  if you want to get technical, overdrive / distortion are changes to the frequency domain of the guitar signal

when you change things in the 'time' domain, you can get 'phasing, chorus, reverb, flanger, tremelo, and delay/echo' ... reverb makes your sound 'spread out' as if you are in a tunnel or large cathedral or auditorium ... basically, when you stop playing you hear your notes 'trail off' ... chorus produces a 'shimmery' effect that can be used for rhythm or lead .. it's a nice way to fatten up chords ... flanging and phasing are special effects that add a 'whoosh' that comes in and out as you play ... spacey! ... and delay just sends one or more copies of the signal you play a little later after the original signal is played .. can be very cool for solos

head down to your local guitar store and play some to get an idea for yourself ... i also think that roland / boss has a website that demos the effects ...

good luck
have fun

Hi jamin,
I don't usually refer folks to other Sites, and I hope the mods will forgive me this time!
One of the best things I've ever seen put together on your question is over at WholeNote dot com. Lesson #1037. You will find a good description of many effects, as well as mp3 examples right from the lesson page.

I've never hyperlinked in here... let's see if this works...
http://www.wholenote.com/cgi-bin/page_view.pl?l=1037&p=1

Edit: Be careful with those 1's and l's boys & girls. They look too much alike. Took me 3 trys to get that link to work >:(

hey guys, thanx for the help. that website was exactly what i was looking for.

Check out:

http://www.bossus.com/Manuals/BOSS_GuitarEffects_GuideBook_Vol17.pdf